Creede actors invading, invigorating Denver stages

Ties to the summer theater group are expanding in the metro area

The acclaimed Creede Repertory Theatre has attracted many quality actors from Denver over the years. Of late, many of the actors it brings in from all over the country have continued on to Denver and Colorado Springs, invigorating those theater scenes. Some of each gathered at the Buckhorn Exchange for this Vanity Fair-inspired shot. From left, Steven Cole Hughes (standing), John Arp (seated), Rachel Bouchard, Jessica Jackson, Michael Bouchard, Diana Dresser (seated), Adrian Egolf (back), Laura Jo Trexler, Kate Berry and Jake Walker. (Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post)

In 1967, a dozen student actors from the University of Kansas came to Creede and saved this dying old mining town by starting a professional, seasonal theater company on the boarded-up Main Street. Today, the Creede Repertory Theatre is the largest employer in Mineral County.

And now, they're coming to Denver like a gold rush.

A veritable commune of actors who first came to Colorado to perform in Creede are now infiltrating and invigorating stages statewide, from the Arvada Center to Curious to Miners Alley Playhouse to Paragon and many others.

Creede artistic director Maurice Lamee has long been able to attract big-name Denver actors like Jamie Horton, Mike Hartman, Randy Moore, Jeff Roark and four-time Denver Post Ovation Award winner John Arp to summer in this picturesque mountain town nestled in the remote San Juan mountains 250 miles southwest of Denver. And why not? "It's (bleeping) gorgeous," said actor Michael Bouchard.

He calls Creede an admittedly implausible place where, in a regrettable nod to progress, cell phones now receive signals — and the year-round population recently topped 400. But in the summer, that number leaps to more than 20,000, thanks to fishing, hunting . . . and theater. The company says it's responsible for a $4.1 million annual economic impact to the state.

But until recently, Creede Rep has never been a primary destination for Denver theatergoers; and Denver has never been a primary destination for the actors Creede lures to Colorado from around the country. While the theater draws more than 20,000 to its seven offerings each June through September, they come largely from New Mexico and northern Texas.

But a two-pronged sea change is underway that has newly indoctrinated Denver audiences reaching for their road atlases and looking up just where in the heck this "Creede" place is.

Creede Rep is entering into unprecedented partnerships with the Arvada Center and soon-to-open Lone Tree Arts Center to bring its shows to the metro area. Last year, Creede introduced itself to 7,000 Arvada Center patrons who came to see its farcical comedy "The Ladies Man." This fall — after Creede completes its 46th season with a varied slate including the newly revived Broadway musical "How to Succeed in Business . . ." the quick-change comedy "The Mystery of Irma Vep" and "The Bad Man" (that's the final installment of Denver Center playwright and longtime Creede actor Steven Cole Hughes' surreal Western trilogy) — it's heading our way again.

Creede Rep will help christen the new Lone Tree Arts Center in September with a two-week run of its smart comedy, "Unnecessary Farce." In October, it will bring its difficult South African drama, "The Road to Mecca," to the Arvada Center.

Just as important: There has been a recent and unprecedented migration of Creede actors who are choosing to put roots down in Denver.

Denver a second home

Jake Walker came to Creede from Kansas City in 2003. Bouchard came from California; his future wife, Rachel, from Kentucky; Diana Dresser from the Bay Area; Kate Berry from Illinois; Jessica Jackson from Florida. They and others like them have since made significant contributions to productions on stages from Denver to Colorado Springs.

"These are people who fell in love with Colorado through Creede, and realized they could have a year-round career in this beautiful state if they lived in Denver for part of the year," said Dresser, who first came to Creede in 1992 and made the leap to Denver with "The Crimson Thread" at the Arvada Center in 2005.

"I think every one of us would live in Creede year-round if we could be gainfully employed there during the winter, but Denver is a wonderful alternative. I think all of us, having come from all over the country, were thrilled to find that Denver's theater scene is far more flourishing than one might have guessed."

What began as a trickle has become a flood, with Creede actors taking starring roles in more than a dozen Denver and Colorado Springs productions in the past two years.

No one embodies the Creede impact in Denver more than Michael Bouchard. In the past two years, he's appeared in an operatic comedy in Arvada, a sex farce in Golden, a frontier weeper in Aurora, a surreal French comedy in Boulder, and starred in the Arvada Center children's theater's "Flat Stanley."

He's gotten all those jobs because he's well-rounded, he said — and he's well-rounded because of Creede.

"You have to be able to do everything at Creede. That's just a gimme," Bouchard said.

"For example, there is literally nothing Jessica Jackson can't do. She composes music, she acts, she directs . . . she probably builds a rocket to the moon in her off-time.

"Creede is like this smorgasbord buffet table of theater, and so if you can't do everything all at once, they simply can't employ you. We're doing Moliere, musicals, deep dark dramas, light farces and romantic comedies — all at once. So when I get the chance to drop into a town like Denver, I have so many more options available to me because I have been doing all these things consistently for so many years at Creede."

Walker said working at Creede becomes a second family — "It has to, when you spend 18 hours a day working together."

Arp strengthens Creede ties

And that's what they've become in Denver. Having an anchor like Arp, a staple on Denver theater stages for 15 years, choosing to act most every summer in Creede since 2007 only deepens the Denver-Creede ties.

But the greatest sign that Creede's tentacles have taken hold in Denver is that some of its actors are now staying put in the big city. Even in the summer.

Walker, who just starred in Paragon's searing drama "The Pride," will be summering with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. Bouchard and his wife, who have more than a dozen years between them at Creede, will appear together in Miners Alley Playhouse's "A Touch of Spring," opening July 8.

But that won't leave Creede lacking for talent. The 2011 summer crew includes Arp, many returning favorites and two recent graduates of the Denver Center's National Theatre Conservatory — John DiAntonio and Caitlin Wise.

But Bouchard and Walker believe anything any Creede actor accomplishes on any Denver stage will always be a positive reflection on the company that first brought them to Colorado.

"I'm hoping that, over time, the performances you are getting from these actors who have spent so much time in Creede are so damned tantalizing for audiences," Bouchard said, "that it's going to be harder and harder for any legit theatergoer from Denver to look at Creede and say that it's too far away to go."

Creede's impact on statewide stages:

Here is a sampling of a few (not all) actors from around the country who came to Colorado to work for the Creede Repertory Theatre, and have gone on to work recently on stages from Denver to Colorado Springs:

*Kate Berry: Starred in the Arvada Center's "The Lion in Winter" (pictured bottom right) and "The Seagull" at Colorado Springs TheatreWorks.

Michael Bouchard: Has appeared in the Arvada Center's "The Second Tosca," and the children's production "Flat Stanley" (pictured top right); the Aurora Fox's "The Rainmaker"; Miners Alley Playhouse's "Don't Dress for Dinner"; Colorado Shakespeare Festival's "A Christmas Carol"; and Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company's "An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Boeuf." He will appear in Miners Alley Playhouse's "A Touch of Spring," opening July 8.

*Jessica Jackson: Appeared in "Boeing Boeing" at Colorado Springs TheatreWorks.

Jake Walker: Just completed a run of Paragon's "The Pride'; starred in Curious' "Home By Dark" (pictured bottom middle), Arvada Center's "The Lion in Winter"; and the Aurora Fox's "The Rainmaker." Will perform this summer for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.

*Performing at Creede Rep this summer

Denver's impact on Creede stages:

Here are some notable Denver-based actors who have worked for the Creede Repertory Theatre:

*John Arp

Laura Jo Trexler (appearing in The Avenue's "The Divine Sister," opening June 17)

Missy Franklin, Jenny Simpson, Adeline Gray and three other Colorado women could be big players at the 2016 Rio OlympicsWhen people ask Missy Franklin for her thoughts about the Summer Olympics that will begin a year from Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, she hangs a warning label on her answer.